Results show a polarised Colombo: Milinda

12 October 2011 02:30 pm

United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) defeated mayoral candidate Milinda Moragoda said today the election results in Colombo showed not only the polarisation of the city and its surroundings but also the lack of trust between different groups – a problem he had often referred to.

In a statement, he said the citizens of Colombo had made their decision.

“I speak directly to those residents in Colombo who voted for me as well as to all my well-wishers who understand and share my beliefs and vision for our society. I would like to thank you for putting your trust in me.

We may not have ended up where we hoped to be, but I believe we have taken another step towards changing the political culture in our society. We tried to our best to keep the focus on the serious issues and challenges that face our City, on the need to bring our City together across ethnic, religious, class and political lines, and on the importance of the participation of citizens from all sections of society in the political process. Building bridges is not an easy task and is one that takes time.

The incomplete nature of the mandate given by the people of Colombo shows there is no agreement on policies that would take us forward. I will continue to try to build bridges between communities and work towards bringing about a positive change in our political culture," he said. (KB)